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Claudia Abbt, kidnapped in Agadez in April 2025, was released on Wednesday and flown to Benghazi with the Austrian aid worker Eva Gretzmacher. The foreign ministry confirmed the news at midday, and Ignazio Cassis says she is already on her way back to Switzerland.
September and October 2026
Claudia Abbt, 69, kidnapped in Agadez in April 2025, was released on Wednesday and flown to Benghazi. Bern kept channels to Niamey open after the 2023 coup, and Cassis says she is on her way home.
Security authorities assume data on practically all federal employees was stolen in the PK Softech hack, including fedpol and intelligence staff under false identities. Akira demands a ransom, and Sepos has set up a task force.
The government opened its campaign against the initiative on Thursday: cantons and municipalities already have the legal basis to act, and a nationwide ban on loud fireworks is called disproportionate.
Third-quarter sales reached CHF 22.8 billion with 4.0 percent organic growth, and guidance stands. Russia is out of the accounts after Moscow placed the business under external administration.
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, leaving the Geneva sentence for aiding and abetting murder standing. It was his fourth conviction by the Geneva courts.
The foreign policy committee followed the Council of States and approved the wage protection clause, welcoming the compromise with the unions. Full debates in the National Council begin in December.
Day and season passes cost more in 2026/27, the cable cars association confirmed. Meanwhile the Grimsel, Susten, Furka and Nufenen are closed by the first proper snow of the autumn.
One in five workers retires in the next decade, and in care, teaching and the trades AI can only take the paperwork. Entry-level office roles are the ones genuinely at risk.
From 1 January 2027 spouses may again carry a double surname, with or without a hyphen, an option abolished in 2013. Children continue to receive the name of one parent.
The Oil Coordination Group confirmed diesel and jet supplies remain tight, with no physical shortage. A strategic dialogue with EU refineries, chaired by Jørgensen and Kubilius, starts soon.
An undervoltage on the control rod busbars triggered the scram at 6:40. No additional radioactivity was released, and ENSI must clear any restart of the plant that only returned from a ten-month outage in March.
Up to 30,000 cubic metres from the compulsory reserves are authorised until 1 November. Low Rhine water and disrupted German rail freight squeezed deliveries to an airport that burns 4,000 cubic metres a day.
Ministers decide on Wednesday how to revive the stalled purchase. The Armasuisse evaluation favours an Israeli system, and the Patriots ordered in the United States are not expected before 2032.
The chip holds a facial image and two fingerprints, and the fee is unchanged. Old cards stay valid for EU travel until they expire, and the new ID is not to be confused with the E-ID.
The ransomware group says it holds data on federal staff, reportedly including former Federal Councillors, intelligence personnel and elite soldiers. Fedpol had warned about the group earlier this year.
Ninety Kraftwerk 1 apartments will not be ready for the end-of-October move-in because delivery problems hold up the stairwells. Houses slip by six to twelve weeks.
The board in Kilchberg dismissed the chief executive with immediate effect after the chocolate maker twice cut its sales forecast. Former chief Dieter Weisskopf takes over temporarily.
The favourite to succeed Guy Parmelin wants to concentrate on her Zurich government office. Schwyz councillor André Rüegsegger also declines, days before the 23 October nomination deadline.
The Federal Chancellery and the Justice Department objected to the missing drought task force, documents show. Feed and fuel reserves are open, and further measures are due by the end of October.
Lecornu ordered local curfews after 351 arrests in Paris, and Macron refused his interior minister's resignation. Swiss groups who marched in France plan a youth strike in Swiss cities on 20 November.
The tremor struck shortly before 5:00, six kilometres west of Linthal. Almost 300 people reported it to ETH Zurich, and the service says it was likely felt across the whole country.
Delegates in Thun unanimously launched the violence protection initiative. The party also said no to new nuclear plants and the Malaysia trade deal, and yes to easier naturalisation.
From next year 46,000 people with status S qualify for ordinary social assistance. A federal draft would let cantons set the level, down to asylum rates. Aid organisations warn of the consequences.
The company registered Zug Atomics SA in May and wants its thorium reactor tested with the Paul Scherrer Institute by 2028, whatever the February 2027 nuclear vote brings.
On Monday, the country remembers the 11 people who died on 24 October 2001. The disaster rewrote tunnel safety, from ventilation to escape signs every 25 metres.
The PKZH says AHV numbers, IBANs and pension balances may have been stolen from PK Softech AG. Payouts are safe, but members should watch for phishing.
Three left parties filed a council motion against self-driving taxis, warning of empty runs and more traffic. A ZHAW professor argues the fleets could shrink the space cars need.
The committee approved the bid 10 to 0, but wants cantonal shares fixed before credit requests go out. The IOC is expected to decide in spring 2027.
The ZHAW and St. Gallen study puts fraud victims at 15.9 percent, up from 8.4 percent in 2022. Feeling safe after dark fell from 87.6 to 83.1 percent.
Very large platforms must assess risks to minors and stop personalised advertising to them. The dispatch goes to parliament by June 2027.
The retailer missed growth and profitability targets at its Fresh Food and Beverage Group site. The same plant lost 84 jobs in the 2025 Micarna closure.
First-aid courses and vision tests go digital from 1 January 2027, the theory course moves before the exam, and the test grows to 55 questions.
A Senate committee backed a 17-hour daily window for remote work, a rest period cut to 9 hours, and up to five hours of Sunday work nine times a year.
The stricter short-term rental rules have drawn 338 reports since 1 September. On-site checks are yet to start, platform monitoring begins in 2027, and Airbnb disputes the premise.
Unleaded 95 averages CHF 2.11 a litre, three cents below the mid-September peak. Diesel fell six cents to CHF 2.40.
More than 100 people, some masked, attacked officers clearing an illegal party on Saturday night. One officer was injured, about 20 containers burned, and police suspect preparation.
Police from several cantons kept the anniversary rally out of the city centre. The route from the Rosengarten to the Reitschule ended without major incidents.
The 20 to 40 millimetres north of the Alps improved the water balance by only 15 to 35 percent. Record lows were measured on the High Rhine, and stage 4 stays in force.
ASTRA lists 138 ramp metering projects since voters rejected new lanes. An internal note accepts jams on cantonal roads, and cities want a say.
The agency kept the top grade and cut the outlook to negative, with a one-in-three chance of a downgrade within two years. Leupi promises tighter priorities.
The ECtHR declared Mahaim's application against Vaud's tax solidarity rules admissible, a hurdle only one application in ten clears. A win could reach beyond Switzerland.
The second Resilience Weeks run through October: emergency meeting points, 80 spring-fed fountains that work without power, and a household rule of 9 litres per person.
Garaventa returned a refitted tunnel tube to service, with stage two due in November. Days earlier the airport handled a record 123,000 passengers in one day.
Participants knelt for a minute of silence on Bahnhofstrasse before marching from Helvetiaplatz toward Langstrasse. The protest stayed peaceful under a large police presence.
A no vote on 29 November would leave the AHV CHF 5 billion short by 2035, the minister warned. VAT would rise from 8.1 to 8.5 percent, with the first 13th payment due in December.
The second-class GA will cost CHF 4,095 from 13 December, up CHF 100 instead of the planned CHF 200. Documents show the industry first aimed for rises above 5 percent.
Lucerne caps short-term rentals at 90 nights a year, Zurich and Interlaken have followed, and Valais hoteliers want a level playing field. Bern is moving on nationwide data.
Aeschi left open a three-name ticket like the one Parmelin beat in 2015. The faction decides on 20 November, and cantonal sections can name candidates until 23 October.
About 500 rescuers, half from abroad, trained in Geneva, Vaud and Fribourg under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, a first on Swiss soil.
A pre-dawn fire destroyed signalling cables near Eclepens. Police suspect arson. Trains detour via Bern, adding up to an hour, until early Sunday.
The committee claimed 117,500 names for permit-free rooftop solar. Cantonal checks struck out almost 20,000, leaving the initiative short of the 100,000 needed.
The deal creating a legal basis for Swiss companies to help rebuild Ukraine took effect on Friday. No referendum was requested before Thursday's deadline.
Six redundancies and 17 internal transfers at the Le Locle watchmaker. Weak demand for entry and mid-range watches is biting in the Neuchatel Jura.
The supplier detected the attack at the end of September and filed a criminal complaint. Publica insures around 70,000 active members and 41,600 pensioners.
Ambassador Andreas Künne calls the Senate's immigration demands not helpful and expects Switzerland to honour the signed treaties. The National Council debates in December.
The medical association counts 43 percent of practising doctors with foreign degrees in 2025, up from 31 percent a decade ago and far above the OECD norm.
Twice the required number of names reached the Federal Chancellery. On the same day, Geneva raised its minimum wage to CHF 24.73 an hour from January.
The 1952 buildings house at least 156 people, and the site could later hold more than double the floor space. The purchase serves the one-third nonprofit goal.
The most prominent name in the early speculation will not stand. SVP cantonal sections have until 23 October to put candidates forward.
SpaceX wants 40 gateway antennas above Leuk, one of Europe's largest Starlink stations. Motions in Bern and an appeal in Sion now stand in the way.
Artisan Partners calls the planned capital rules punitive in a letter to the board. UBS says it intends to keep running its global business from Switzerland.
Blockchain analysis for Swiss fraud cases is increasingly commissioned from Hong Kong, where AI tracing tools, common law courts and proximity to mainland China meet.
Six parties from the SP to the SVP want heads of state, not just ministers, at Palexpo in June 2027, and question the CHF 5.4 million budget.
FDP and SVP lawmakers want to soften the Senate's 90 percent rule. Committees meet on 26 and 27 October, and a referendum threat hangs over a bank-friendly outcome.
Amaudruz, Rickli and Friedli head the early lists. The SVP names its candidates on 20 November and parliament votes on 9 December.
Three driverless electric cars now connect around 100 stops in Boppelsen, Danikon, Huttikon and Otelfingen, a first for public transport in Switzerland.
The economics minister and 2026 president steps down on 31 December after 11 years, citing weariness and denying health reasons. The election is on 9 December.
Three weeks settled the Senate's line on Europe, kept Mercosur alive and sent the UBS capital law to the National Council. The winter session opens on 30 November.
The aerospace firm found the first traces of a highly professional intrusion on 12 August and went public only after forensic work with Mandiant allowed it.
After 22 hours of debate, senators approved CHF 193 million for Erasmus+, kept the wage compromise and hardened the immigration rules. The National Council is next.
By 23 votes to 17, senators chose a mandatory referendum on Bilaterals III, raising the bar to a double majority of voters and cantons.
The SFA no longer backs the Swiss FIFA president's bid for another term, costing Infantino the support of his home federation.
The average premium reaches CHF 412 a month next year. Adults will pay CHF 487.60, and the switching window closes at the end of November.
Senators moved from Monday's entry vote into the contested clauses: wage protection, the referendum rule and dynamic adoption of EU law.
The Council of States voted 29 to 15 to open the Swiss-EU package. Detailed debate on wages and the referendum runs through Wednesday.
All 26 cantons and 70.15 percent of voters rejected a stricter constitutional definition of neutrality. The food initiative also lost.
Martin Schlegel told SRF the dry summer showed up in food prices, while the rise in Swiss inflation was still almost all petroleum.
With two days to go, the last national polls still have both 27 September initiatives behind. Most ballots in Switzerland are postal.
The SNB held at zero for another quarter, lifted its inflation forecast slightly, and softened the wording on franc intervention.
Hagel Schweiz expects CHF 59.2 million in crop losses and about 5,800 claims after the driest, hottest April-to-August stretch since 1901.
The Council of States chose 90 percent CET1 backing for UBS foreign units, stricter than the committee plan and short of the government's 100 percent.
The finance minister and the UBS chief executive restated capital positions that do not meet, a day before the Senate vote.
Senators kept a CHF 24 billion defence fund, doubled the loan ceiling to CHF 12 billion, and cut the VAT rise to 0.2 points.
Published polls still show the 27 September neutrality initiative heading for defeat, with no newer national survey yet.
Climate grandparents marked a Bahnhofplatz parking bay and asked Bern to see 15 square metres as public space.
Ministers asked parliament to recommend a no vote on systematic border checks and a 5,000 asylum cap, with no counter-proposal.
An electrical fault stopped Lausanne, Geneva and Yverdon trains for hours on Thursday night. Services were back by morning.
Colm Kelleher said UBS may have to rethink Switzerland if it cannot compete. The Senate delayed the capital vote to 23 September.
The floor has an agenda. The coffee machine has a later one, and this morning it was a survey.
Two surveys published Wednesday put the neutrality initiative well behind with ten days left before the 27 September ballot.
The Senate offered a package. The unions offered the same no, with an invoice attached.
Senators voted 35 to 7 to revive a South American trade pact the National Council rejected in June, pairing it with new money for farmers.
New building figures show heat pumps racing ahead in new homes while oil still heats a third of the existing stock.
Sunday was the funfair. Monday was the rifle, and a thinner tram toward Wollishofen.
Lawmakers returned to the Bundeshaus on Monday for a three-week sitting that will test the bilateral path with Brussels and the cost of rearmament.
Official figures now put Switzerland under the one percent vacancy line that analysts treat as a shortage.
Carnival rides, sausage stalls and a rifle range older than the federal state filled the meadow above Wollishofen.
A proposal to write higher self-sufficiency into policy is losing ground, including in some rural districts that usually back farm causes.
The package is one vote in the diary and three arguments in any corridor that still has a coffee machine.
Rearmament meets the debt brake next week, when the large chamber takes up army money that supporters call overdue and critics call a blank cheque.
Frankfurt's patience left the franc where Swiss manufacturers already found it: manageable, not comfortable.
Frankfurt policymakers left the deposit rate unchanged at 2.75 percent, citing stable price growth across the eurozone.
The revised framework links national emission cuts to cantonal grants, setting up a tense debate when parliament returns to Bern.
Planners estimate 12,000 new apartments by 2030, but tenant advocates say the measure alone will not cool rents in districts 1 through 4.
Representatives from 140 countries opened negotiations at the Palais des Nations, seeking rules for disbursing aid to climate-vulnerable regions.
Before the first gavel in the Bundeshaus, consular groups asked deputies not to treat overseas voters as an afterthought.